Rise of the Tomb Raider Gets a Demo, But Needed a Better Release Date

It’s November 10th. Rise of the Tomb Raider just released for Xbox One. There’s just one problem. Fallout 4 also released the same day. Fallout 4 shipped 12 million copies in its first 24 hours. Rise of the Tomb Raider didn’t even crack the top 10 on November’s NPD.

Today, Microsoft and Square Enix are trying to get some attention for the overshadowed game. Head on over to Rise of the Tomb Raider’s product page to play the demo. You should give it a shot. If you liked 2013’s Tomb Raider at all, you’ll love Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Rise of the Tomb Raider’s reception

Critically? Rise of the Tomb Raider did great. I liked it, and so did pretty much all critics. As for consumers? It’s hard to get a grasp of sales numbers these days. But here’s what we do know. Rise of the Tomb Raider didn’t crack the top 10 for November NPD. Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg highlighted one of ROTR’s biggest obstacles in an interview with DualShockers. “It launched in a very crowded window.” Greenberg did add the game, “has done well.”

Greenberg also said he expects the game to continue to sell well through the holidays.

When should Rise of the Tomb Raider have released?

This is a tough one. It’s easy to say it needed a better release date, but the holiday season was slammed no matter where you looked. Late October had Halo 5. November was stacked with Call of Duty, Battlefront and Fallout. Early next year is also slammed. But man, the same day as Fallout 4? That’s just asking to be completely overshadowed.

I think a mid-October release would have been ideal. Get in front of all the big releases.

Square Enix still has two platforms (PS4, PC) to release the game on. As for Xbox One owners? Lara’s adventure continues early next year with Baba Yaga: Temple of the Witch.